Active Shooter Training

Before school started, my district put all of its teachers through Active Shooter training.  It's hard to believe our world has come to the place where lock-down drills are common place for kids, and teachers are practicing how to protect children from an active shooter in the building.

For this training, the police and fire departments put us into 3 situations.  In the first, we sat in the cafeteria, simulating lunch time.  A shooter came through the doors firing away and we were directed down various hallways to run and hide.  Some people were told ahead of time they would become victims, so we had to step over bodies.  Once we were to safety, we watched the police go through their training of how they would secure the building and remove the injured.  Their radios played over the PA system, so we were able to hear how chaotic a situation like that would be.

In the second scenario, we milled through the hallways as if it were passing time.  A shooter came  down the hall shooting and we were told to run into classrooms and barricade the doors.  We knew the shooter would make it into one of the classrooms where the gun would jam, and a bystander would wrestle the gun away.  Fortunately I was not in that room.  It was a very surreal feeling to be huddled under a desk, knowing full well this was a mock situation, but with my heart racing.  Multiple times I could see the teams of police officers, guns drawn, walking down the hallway in their formation.

The last scenario was a simulated pepfest.  A gunman came in one of the gym doors firing shots and set off a smoke bomb.  It was cloudy and smelly, and once again the feeling of panic set in.  In all three simulations there were some teachers who were in tears because it all felt so real.

I used to be trained in how to teach interesting math lessons.  Now I do this.